SOFT EYE BREAK OUT of REINFORCED CONCRETE FOR TBM EXCAVATION with ASLAN GLASS FIBER REINFORCED POLYMER

(GFRP). M. Eskridge 9th October 2003.

Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM). Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) are available in a wide variety of designs, each adapted to suit the differeing materials and varying ground conditions which may be encountered during an excavation. A characteristic common to most modern TBMs is the capacity to display sufficient force to efficiently penetrate mass concrete in the same manner they would with rock or other hard materials (typically 30 to 60 Mpa). A typical TBM will be driven by a system of hydraulics powered by an external power pack. Hydraulic grippers pressing into the tunnel walls surrounding the TBM will give purchase with the surrounding rock. Using this purchase, the TBM would be launched forward by means of another set of hydraulic rams thrusting the cutting face forward. Fig. 1. TBM general arrangement
Cutter face Rams Conveyer

onto a conveyer where it is transported to the rear of the TBM and out of the tunnel. The basic cutting principle of excavating hard material by TBM is the transferral of energy from the TBM through the multiple cutting discs/picks mounted on the TBMs cutter face causing fragmentation of the material. Fig. 2. Cutter face detail
Muck bucket Cutter disc

Gauge disc The cutter discs are designed to promote crack propagation between the adjacent discs leading to failure and eventual fragmentation of the material to be exhumed. Fig. 3. Adjacent cutter discs working against hard material.

Shield Grippers

Walking frame

The TBMs cutting face also utilizes a hydraulic system to rotate itself into the rock face creating the cutting action by scoring the tunnel face with cutter discs and/or static picks to fragment the material. Mucking out buckets mounted on the extremities of the face scoop up the loose material and dumps the material

The brittleness or the plasticity exhibited by the material when subjected to the mechanical forces of the discs will dictate the rate of penetration through the material. Thus brittleness is a highly desirable property if the material is to be penetrated by a TBM.

Reinforced concrete. Tunnel excavation by Tunnel Boring machines (TBMs) will most commonly commence with the TBM being launched from a reinforced concrete shaft constructed to contain the ground around the tunnel entrance. The shaft is usually constructed of cast in-situ concrete diaphragm walls or bore piles sunk into the ground before commencement of the excavation works. The recovery of the TBM at the termination of the tunnel will again be via a pre-constructed shaft and the tunnel path will likely as not lead through simular ventilation/access shafts or other reinforced concrete structures during the progress of the tunnel excavation. Notwithstanding the TBMs ability to bore through these brittle materials the added resilience of concrete reinforced with steel rebars will obstruct the advancement of all but a few TBMs that are specifically designed to overcome such obstacles as reinforced concrete. Concrete reinforced with steel reinforcing bars display entirely different properties from mass concrete as would be expected, preventing the TBMs progress through the concrete by preventing the propagation of cracks though the structure. Fig. 4. Adjacent cutter discs working against hard material reinforced concrete (RC) with steel reinforcing.

Soft Eye in Reinforced Concrete Soft eye openings are a new method of reinforcing concrete structures that will not impede the progress of a TBM obstructed by an RC structure. This technique was first used by Dextra Pacific, a leading manufacturer and supplier of innovative construction materials in early 2000 in the Kwai Shing Tunnel for KCRC Hong Kong. The soft eye opening was constructed by replacing the traditional steel reinforcing bar with Hughes Brothers Aslan Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymers (GFRP) bars in the TBMs local area of passage through the structure. Aslan 100 bars are made from continuous filaments of glass fibers encapsulated within a polymeric resin in accordance with ACI 440.2R-02, 2002: Guide for the Design and Construction of Concrete Reinforced with FRP Bars, by the American Constitute, Farmington Hill. Fig. 5. Microscopic cross section of Aslan GFRP bar 60X

Photo compliments of Hughes Bros. Note the external resin coating and impregnated sand kernels for bonding and protection from alkaline attack within the concrete. The reinforcing bar would further resist the cutter discs on physical contact as the ductile nature of the steel would allow the bars to deform, absorbing the energy from the cutter discs as opposed to fracturing. The GFRP is used only in the localised region of the soft eye to be penetrated by the TBM, allowing a clearance of approximately 100 to 150mm and tied with U bolts or tying wire to the steel reinforcing cage.

Fig. 6. Reinforcing cage for diaphragm wall with localised GFRP section.

Typically, GFRPs will display a higher tensile strength than steel, but when failure occurs the result will be dramatic, resulting in longitudinal failure of the polymer matrix as the glass fibers within the bar fail. This is known as the brooming effect. The use of GFRP in tunnel construction will facilitate TBMs to bore through the concrete structures without any more resistance then would be encountered in hard materials of the same compressive strength such as rock and un-reinforced mass concrete. Fig. 9. Adjacent cutter discs working against hard material (RC) with GFRP reinforcing.

Bangkok MRTA Thailand Fig. 7. Elevation & cross section of GFRP Locally reinforced section of cage for soft eye. (GFRP shows white against steel). Note the localised fragmentation of the GFRP rebar and crack propagation within the matrix of the concrete. Concrete reinforced with GFRP will otherwise meet all the mechanical requirements of high tensile reinforcing bars in RC structures with minimal changes to the reinforcement design for this application. Fig. 10. Comparative stress strain curve of GFRP and high tensile reinforcing bars.
400
Steel reinforcing bar

Red denotes GFRP Blk. denotes steel rebar.

Sample cage design complementary of Coforce International consultants. This phenomenon is due to the high tensile low-yield mechanical properties displayed by Aslan GFRP significantly reducing transversal resistance compared to RCs using traditional steel bars. Fig. 8. Exposed section of GFRP from a soft eye displaying typical brooming.

Stress measured in kilo newtons

300

200

100

CSA = 490 mm^2 UTS = 610 kN/mm^2 Yield @1% = 460 kN m^2 fu = 300 kN fy = 225 kN Aslan GFRP Bar CSA = 490 mm^2 UTS = 700 kN mm^2 Yield = N/A fu = 343 kN fy = N/A

0.01% 0.02% 0.03% Strain measured in percentage elongation Steel reinforcing bar Aslan GFRP

The considerations before specifying a soft eye opening for a TBM in a concrete structure are essentially the same stress parameters as would be considered when selecting which TBM would be suitable to cut through any naturally formed hard material.

Concrete is typically an easier material to bore through compared to most rock mass that would likely be encountered during an excavation due to its homogenous nature and predetermined uniaxial compressive strength by design. Before the introduction of soft eye openings, the construction method to overcome the impediment of RC shafts would be to access the shaft with hydraulic breaking/cutting equipment to break out the concrete and steel before the TBM could pass through the structure. Fig. 11. Hand breakout at exit shaft.

TBM from traditional steel reinforced concrete. Personal safety of those involved in such an undertaking is greatly improved by utilizing the soft eye technique, as no person is required to access the shaft prior to placing the TBM in the launching shaft or ahead of a breakout. The contractor also benefits from significant cost and time saving by the construction of soft eyes. Placing GFRP bars would be carried out in the same manner as fixing traditional steel bars and due to the lightweight of GFRPs ( that of steel) the task would only be made easier. Typically, a hand breakout would add several days to the construction program depending on the depth of the shaft, accessibility, safety considerations, availability of manpower and resources required to carry out the works etc. Given these unique advantages of soft eye openings more and more tunnelling contractors are adopting this technique and the future of soft eye openings looks positive for some time to come.

Fig 11 shows a hydraulic breaker being lowered into an exit shaft to breakout a